Road grader



J. L. BECKER Jan. 6, 1931.

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ROAD GRADER Filed June '7, 1929 INVENTOR Joamv L. BECKER ATTORNEY ROAD GRADER Filed June '7, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOSEPH L. BECKER ATTORNEY Jan. 6, 1931. JQL. BECKER 1,788,043

ROAD GRADER Filed June 7, 1929 4 Sheets-sheaf, 4

INVENTOR JOSEPH L. BECKER ATTOR N EY Patented Jan. 6,1931

:osnrn 1.. iiEcxEa, or srumwarna, umnnsom ROAD omen Application filed June 7, 1929. Serial No. 369,074.

This invention relates to road working machinery, and the primary object is toprovide a'road grader or maintainer that is extremely sturdy and durable, simple in construction,

7 I easy to operate, eflicient in performance,jand

, which'is particularl an improvement over the machine disclose in my prior co-pending 1928, for combination tractor-grader, and

Ser. No. 269,547, filed April 12, 1928, for road drawings by reference numerals, 7 and 8 desgrader. A further ob ect is to provide a grading machine of the so-called pull type, i. e., with the machine adapted to be pulled behind a tractor, truck, or-draft animals, as distinguished from the so-called' push type of machine, wherein the grader is pushed by a tractor at the rear of the cutting blade, and in which machine the blade ad usting controls can be shifted from one position to another,-so that only one operator will be sufficient, under one adjustment, to operate both the grader and the pulling tractor, or, if so desired, two operators may be employed, one [for the grader and one for the tractor or truck. For economy in operation the adj ustment permitting the use of only one operator will of course be used, but where two operators are available the two man arrangement is best as itpermits of better observation and control, and consequently results in more efficient work upon the road. Another important feature involved in and forming a part of the present invention comprises an efficient and practical design of lifting and adjusting mechanism for the scraper blade, the novel features of which mechanism will be specifically set forth inthe following specification.

' Referrin to the accompanging drawings, in which parts are identi e ous figures by like characters:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved road grader, the blade adjusting controls 1 n this instance being in their forward posltions.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine as @shown in Fig. 1, but illustrating 1t as connected to a tractor, and with fractional por-. tions broken away for purpose of llustra- 50 I d in the vari- Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation as on the irregular line 33 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the blade controls as shifted to their rearward positions.

-Fig. 5 is a cross sectional elevation, as on the irregular line 55 in Fig. 3. applicatlons, Ser. No. 268,547, filed April 9,

' Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section of one of the screw-lift, blade control units.

Referring to the various figures of the ignate the side beams of the main frame of the machine, the front ends of which are connected by across piece 9, and the rear ends of which slope downward to the points of attachment of the axle 10 of the rear supporting wheels 11. An operators station, consisting of a horizontal platform 12, is suitably secured between the lower or rear ends of the beams 7 -8. A bolster frame 13rigidly se- 70 cured to the front end of the main frame has a large king bolt 14: by which it is p ivotall' secured to a front carriage 15 having a draft tongue 16. This tongue,as shown in Fig. 2, may be connected to the draw bar 17 of a tractor having traction members 18 and operatdrs station 19, of any conventional form.

Arranged under the fore part of the main 80 frame is an adjustable triangularly shaped scraper frame comprising a pair of converging side bars 20 and 21 connected at their rear ends by a cross bar 22.

The front end of this frame is pivoted to the bolt 14, with suflicient play to allow for transverse tilting adjustment, and the outer ends of the bar 22 are carried from crank arms 23 and 24 by link bars 25 and 26, respectively, the upper and lower ends of which link bars are-attached by ball and. socket connections to the crank arms and cross bar,.as shown. The frame 20+-22 carries a circle 27 which in turn supports the scraper blade 28 in a common and wel known manner. The scraper and scraper fr meare held against transverse movement with respect to the main frame by a cross bar 29, the right end of which is pivotally secured under'the beam 8 while its lower or left end is selectively attached by a cotter pin in any one of a series of holes 30 in the cross beam 22. Thus, also, the scraper blade may be set in any desired transverse position, although, under ordinary circumstances any adjustment of this nature is very seldom required.

When the machine is in operation it is necessary to frequently adjust the vertical and angular position of the grading blade, and this is done by raising and lowering of the crank arms 23 and 24 in the manner'presently to be described. To effect an easy manipulation of the blade, however, it may here be noted that the weight of the grader frame, circle and blade is counterbalanced by a heavy spring 31, the lower end of which is adjustabl secured to a cross bar 32. The upper or orward end of the spring 31 is connected by a chain 33 to the short arm 34 of a bell crank lever carried on a suitably journaled transverse shaft 35. The longer arm 36 of the bell crank lever is connected by a chain 37 to a central portion of the beam 22. As the chain 37 is secured centrally to the bar 22 it will be seen that the o posite ends of the blade will tend to counter alance each other, and yet the spring 31 is of sufficient strength, acting through the bell crank, to substantially counterbalance the entire ,weight of the scraper frame and blade;

The crank arms 23 and 24 are extensions of a pair of short aligned shafts 38 and 39 that are juornaled in a central bearing 40, and outer bearings 41 on the main frame, which bearings are all connected by an inverted channel bar 42. Keyed or shrunk upon the respective shafts 38 and 39 are a pair of depending arms 43 and 44, the lower ends of which are pivotally connected to castings 45 at the ends of a pair of adjusting devices designated generally by the letters A and B. The units A and B are substantially identical in construction, and therefore only one of them will be described in detail, with particular reference to Fig. 6, as follows:

The casting 45 is rigidly secured in the I outer end of a sleeve 46 that is slidable in an outer sleeve 47 having a cap 48 at one end.

The inner end of the sleeve 46 has an internally threaded section or nut 49 through which operates a long screw 50, one end of which is non-slidably journaled in the cap 48. Theputer sleeve 47 is rigidly secured in a casting 51, journaled in a bracket or bearing member 52. As the unit A (or B) is thus carried on a hearing or pivot substantially between its ends it is virtually balanced on the pivot with a result that there is no binding or parts, and when the inner sleeve is properly lubricated the screw 50 can project or retract it with a minimum amount of friction and with comparatively little efiort, which, however, would not be the case if the unit were supported at either or both ends.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 6 the bearings 52 are secured to a cross plate 53,- and the outer or rear ends of the screws 50 are provided with hand wheels 54, which are then within convenient reach of the operator when standing on the platform 12, and thus provide means by which itheoperator, when so positioned, can vertically and angularly adjust the blade. This is the arrangement used when the grader isbeing pulled behind a tractor or truck that is being driven by a separate operator.

To arrangethe parts for a one-man control, i. e., so that the tractor operator may also have convenient control of the grader mechanism, the bearings 52 are removed from the cross piece 53 and are secured to a similar cross piece 55 at a more forward point of the machine, the units A and B being reversed however, so that the castings 45 may be resecured to the arms 43 and 44. In this case also, the hand wheels 54 are removed from the screws 50, proper, and are applied, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, to extension shafts 56 and 57, that are loosely supported in bearing brackets 58 and have universal joint connections 59 with the screws 50. Thus the control wheels are brought to a forward point where they can be reached and manipulated by the tractor operator. The tractor operator, sitting on the seat 19, will of course have to turn part way about, either on or with the seat 19, to reach the wheels 54, and with this in mind it is found to be of considerable assistance to make the shaft 56 longer than the shaft 57, so as to position the right hand wheel 54 further'forward. As the operator now turns partly back, swinging to the right, he finds bothrwheels 54 in convenient tions for manipulation.

It is of course a very simple matter to reconvert the grader into a rear control or two man machine.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in the structure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A road grader comprising awheel supported main frame adapted to be drawn behind a tractor, a grader blade carried under the frame, an operators station at the rear of the frame, a pair of control units for angularly and vertically adjusting the blade, and means for selectively applying and attaching the units whereby they may be reached and manipulated from either the op-' erators station or the tractor.

2. A road machine comprising a main frame adapted to be drawn behind a tractor, an operators station at the rear of the frame,

posia second frame mounted under the main to the said crank arms foractuating the to the second frame, and means for selectively securing the screw mechanism to the main frame in either of two positions whereby the on the main frame whereby the li other end of the screw mechanism may be operated by an operator positioned at either the operators station on the main frame or on the tractor in front of the main frame.

3. A road machine com rising a main frame adapted to be drawn l iehind a tractor, an operators station at the rear of the frame, a second frame mounted under the .main frame, a road working tool carried by the second frame, a lift device. carried by the main frame intermediate the ends thereof and connected with the second frame, a control unit secured at one end to the lift device and having a hand control member at the other end, and means for mounting the control unit in either forward or rearward ositions device may be selectively controlled from either the tractor or said station.

4. A road grader comprising a main frame, a grader fraine disposed under the main frame, a pair of aligned shafts disposed transversely of the main frame and having cranks connected to the grader frame laterally disposed bearings on the main frame for the shafts,-a cross bar connectin the bearings, an inner bearing carried by t e bar for supporting the inner ends of the shafts, and means for oscillating the shafts to effect adjustments to the grader frame.

5. A road grader comprising a main frame, a grader frame disposed under the main frame, a pair of aligned shafts disposed transversely of the main frameand having cranks connected to the grader frame, lateral- .frame, a road working tool carried by the same.

Signed at Stillwater, in the county of Washington and State of Minnesota, this 3d day of June, 1929.

JOSEPH L. BECKER.

ly disposed bearings on'themain frame for the shafts, a cross bar connecting the bearings, an inner bearing carried b the bar for supporting the inner ends 0 the shafts, crank arms carried by the shafts between said bearings for oscillating the respective shafts to effect adjustments to the grader frame.

6. A roadgrader comprising a main frame, a grader frame dis osed under the main frame, a pair of a gned shafts disposed transversely of the main frame and having cranks connected to the grader frame, laterally disposed bearings on the main frame for the shafts, a cross bar connecting the bearings, an inner bearing carried by the bar for supporting the inner ends of the shafts, crank arms carried by the shafts between said bearings for) oscillating the respective shafts to effect adjustments to the grader frame, -and screw operated, means connected 

